If you’ve encountered a floating, curious mob in a woodland mansion or pillager outpost, you’ve met the Allay—one of Minecraft 1.21’s most powerful automation companions. These small, intelligent mobs are designed to alleviate tedious tasks, automatically collecting and delivering specific items within a 32-block radius. Whether you’re building an automated farm, sorting rare loot, or tired of manually picking up drops, Allays can transform your gameplay efficiency.
This guide covers everything you need to know about using Allays: where to find them, how to tame and control them, and how to build powerful automation systems using their unique item-collection behaviors.
Finding Allays in Woodland Mansions and Pillager Outposts
Allays don’t spawn naturally in the wild. You must locate them in pre-built structures scattered across your world, and only two locations contain these valuable mobs.
Woodland Mansion Prison Cells
Search prison rooms made of andesite blocks and enclosed with iron bars. These cells are often hidden in back corridors or basements. Look for dim lighting and trapped mobs floating calmly inside. Breaking the iron bars safely releases the Allays without aggression.
Pillager Outpost Cages
Check the central tower or surrounding platforms of pillager outposts. Allays are caged alongside iron golems or near watchtowers. After defeating the pillagers, simply break or open the bars to free them.
Bring a lead when exploring these structures to secure Allays immediately after release. This prevents them from drifting away when you move ahead through the building.
Taming and Controlling Allays
Taming an Allay takes one click and any item. No breeding, feeding, or waiting required.
Right-Click to Tame
Hold any item in your hand—a torch, stick, emerald, or even spare cobblestone—and right-click the Allay. It will follow you up to 64 blocks, floating slightly above ground with a balloon-like bobbing motion.
Only the tamer can control the Allay. Other players cannot redirect it, even when holding the same item.
Breaking the Bond
To unbind an Allay, right-click it with an empty hotbar slot. It drops its held item and becomes neutral. Any player can then re-tame it afterward.
Using Leads for Manual Control
Attach a lead to steer the Allay manually. This is ideal for transporting over long distances, positioning in redstone machines, or preventing drift in water or crowded areas.
Water currents disrupt Allay movement significantly. Avoid placing work zones near open water.
Setting Item Collection Targets for Allays
An Allay’s behavior depends entirely on the first item it receives. This defines what it will search for and collect within its 32-block radius.
Assigning a Task
Give the Allay any item—a jungle log, diamond, crossbow, or sword—by right-clicking it while holding the item. The Allay now seeks only that specific item type, ignoring enchanted versus unenchanted variants.
Works with both stackable items (like ender pearls) and non-stackable items (like swords or armor).
Understanding Inventory Limits
The Allay can hold 64 units of stackable items or just 1 non-stackable item at a time. After throwing an item to you, it enters a 3-second cooldown before picking up another. This prevents rapid collection loops and ensures stable operation.
Give an Allay a stone axe, and it will collect only stone axes within 32 blocks—one at a time until its inventory fills.
Using Note Blocks for Automated Delivery
Redirect Allays from following you to delivering items at fixed locations using note blocks as redirection hubs.
Activating Note Block Redirection
Power a note block with redstone using a lever, button, or circuit. Any nearby Allay will fly to the note block, empty its inventory onto it, and stay focused for 30 seconds while ignoring the player.
Create a delivery hub in your base where Allays bring items directly to storage instead of chasing you around.
Combining With Hoppers for Auto-Storage
Place a hopper directly beneath the note block to pull items into chests automatically. The Allay drops items on top of the note block, and the hopper collects and transfers them to your storage system.
Prevent items from sitting on the ground by placing trapdoors above the note block or using a solid block with a hole aligned to the hopper.
Use different-colored wool under each note block to label item types—red for iron, green for food, etc.
Building Redstone Clock Systems for Continuous Operation
Keep Allays delivering continuously by reactivating the note block every 30 seconds using redstone clocks.
Observer Clock Setup
Place two observer blocks facing each other back-to-back. They pulse each other in a loop, sending a redstone pulse every 0.5 seconds. Connect the output to your note block to re-trigger the 30-second redirection window seamlessly.
Repeater-Based Timer
For slower cycles, chain 4 to 6 redstone repeaters in a loop and adjust the delay to match your delivery needs. This works well for low-traffic systems or conserving power.
Redstone clocks generate constant signals. Activate them only when active delivery is needed to avoid unnecessary resource drain.
Allays in Mob Farms and Crop Harvesting
Deploy Allays in real-world scenarios to reduce manual labor and boost efficiency across your base.
Collecting Mob Farm Drops
Place Allays near spawn platforms to gather ender pearls from endermen, gunpowder from creepers, or rotten flesh from zombie farms. Give each Allay a sample of the target drop, and they auto-collect and deliver across multiple farm levels.
Harvesting Tree and Crop Farms
In automatic tree farms, assign Allays to collect logs, saplings, or apples. This prevents item pile-up and fire hazards from lingering drops.
For crop farms, use Allays with wheat, carrots, or potatoes. Pair them with dispensers that break crops, and let Allays pick up the yield automatically.
Works with non-stackables unlike hoppers—Allays can sort individual enchanted books or damaged tools with ease.
Sorting Non-Stackable Items With Allays
Allays excel at organizing gear that traditional systems struggle with, particularly non-stackable items.
Multi-Allay Sorting Hub
Traditional hoppers cannot distinguish between two swords. Allays can. Set up a sorting hub by dropping mixed loot in a central area, assigning one Allay per item type (sword, helmet, bow), and letting each collect only its assigned item and deliver to labeled chests.
After a raid, dump all loot and watch Allays pull out crossbows, arrows, and emeralds with zero manual sorting.
Increasing Capacity With Shulker Boxes
Place shulker boxes under hoppers to increase storage capacity. Allays feed into the system, filling compact, portable storage that you can carry anywhere.
Name Allays with name tags to track their roles—”Log Runner,” “Arrow Sorter,” etc.
Protecting Allays From Damage and Death
Allays are rare and valuable. Losing one means returning to a woodland mansion or pillager outpost.
Using Totems of Undying
Tamed Allays can use a Totem of Undying if holding one when taking fatal damage. They survive the hit, gain regeneration and absorption effects, and drop the totem afterward.
Give tamed Allays a totem for dangerous zones like raid arenas or nether portals.
Untamed Allay Regeneration
Untamed Allays heal 1 heart per second up to 10 health (5 hearts). They cannot use totems but can recover from minor damage over time.
Avoiding Killing Allays
When an Allay dies, it drops only the item it was holding—no experience, no additional loot. They cannot be respawned, so you must find another in structures.
Never mine Allays for their single-item drop. Their long-term utility far outweighs any temporary gain.
Optimizing Allay Workspaces and Design
Design efficient zones to maximize performance and prevent movement glitches.
Using Carpet or Slab Flooring
In enclosed pens or delivery rooms, place carpets or slabs on the floor. This prevents Allays from suffocating in 1-block-high spaces since they float approximately 0.1 blocks above ground.
Full blocks may clip into their hitbox, causing movement issues.
Avoiding Water and Lava
Water pushes Allays off course and disrupts their pathfinding. Lava kills them instantly. Keep all work areas dry and fireproof.
Lighting the Area
Prevent hostile mob spawns in Allay zones, especially in dark mansion basements or outpost corners.
Allay vs Hoppers and Other Transport Methods
Allays outperform traditional transport methods in key areas that matter for automation.
| Feature | Hopper | Allay |
|---|---|---|
| Item targeting | None (collects all) | Specific item only |
| Non-stackable sorting | No | Yes |
| Range | 1 block | 32-block radius |
| Speed | Slow (2.5 sec/item) | Fast, mobile collection |
| Redstone control | No | Yes (via note block) |
| Feature | Llama | Allay |
|---|---|---|
| Hands-free operation | No | Yes |
| Auto-collection | No | Yes |
| Redstone control | No | Yes |
Allays are the first mob that automatically finds, collects, and delivers specific items with zero player input after initial setup.
Key Takeaways for Using Allays in Minecraft 1.21
Allays are game-changers for automation in Minecraft 1.21. Their ability to collect specific items within a 32-block radius, deliver to note block hubs, and sort non-stackable items makes them invaluable for any serious base. Find them only in woodland mansions and pillager outposts, then tame them instantly with any item by right-clicking.
Protect your Allays—they cannot be respawned if killed. Use redstone clocks with note blocks to create continuous delivery systems, and name multiple Allays to build sorting hubs for all your item types. Integrate Allays into mob farms, tree farms, and crop systems to eliminate manual collection forever.
Use Allays to alleviate the grind and focus your time on building, exploring, and creating.
Frequently Asked Questions About Allays in Minecraft 1.21
Where do Allays spawn in Minecraft 1.21?
Allays spawn exclusively in two locations: woodland mansion prison cells (made of andesite and iron bars) and pillager outpost cages (usually near iron golems). Each cage contains 1 to 3 Allays.
How do I tame an Allay?
Hold any item in your hand and right-click the Allay. It will immediately follow you up to 64 blocks away. Only the tamer can control the Allay.
What items can Allays collect?
Allays can collect any item you give them first—they will seek only that specific item type within a 32-block radius. This works for both stackable items (up to 64) and non-stackable items (1 at a time).
How do I make Allays deliver to a specific location?
Place a note block where you want delivery, then power it with redstone. Any nearby Allay will fly to it, deposit its items, and stay focused for 30 seconds. Place a hopper beneath for automatic collection.
Can Allays sort enchanted items?
Yes. Allays distinguish only by item type, not enchantment status. This makes them perfect for sorting enchanted books, tools, and armor that hoppers cannot handle individually.
